Evolution of sexual mimicry in sperm‐dependent all‐female forms of <i>Poeciliopsis</i> (Pisces: Poeciliidae)

Abstract

Abstract The twofold advantage of all‐female reproduction is limited in many asexual lineages because females are sperm‐dependent. Males of a related sexual‐host species typically prefer conspecific females as mates. According to the “sexual mimicry” hypothesis, an all‐female lineage that closely resembles females of the sexual‐host species should have enhanced mating success. Examination of mating success in all‐female fish of the genus Poeciliopsis supported this hypothesis. The excellent sexual mimicry of some all‐female strains could have evolved through mutations within clonal lineages subsequent to their origins as interspecific hybrids. Alternatively, this mimicry may have been “frozen” from variation in the sexual gene pool when new unisexual lineages first arose. To test the latter hypothesis, we examined laboratory synthesized strains of the hybridogenetic fish P. monacha‐lucida . The frozen variation hypothesis was supported by the present results.